Great Wall Motor eyes plant options in South Africa

GWM was outbid by Chinese rival Chery Automobile in using Nissan’s plant in South Africa.

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Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor (GWM) is weighing whether to share a manufacturing facility with another carmaker in South Africa or acquire an existing plant if available and has held talks with Mercedes-Benz as it considers its options, ‌regional executives said on ⁠Wednesday. Chinese automakers ⁠seeking global growth have built more car factories in overseas markets to protect themselves as foreign regulators consider imposing measures against imports of Chinese-made vehicles.

“We do have discussions with Mercedes-Benz from last year and we did also have discussions with Nissan,” Kevin Li, Managing Director of GWM South Africa said during a Haval H6 plug-in hybrid SUV launch presentation.

“Contract assembly is one option. Another option is buying a plant, because (building) a new plant takes time.”

Li said GWM continues to engage with multiple stakeholders on local production ⁠and plans ‌to meet the South African government in China during the upcoming annual auto show.

GWM was outbid by Chinese rival Chery Automobile in using Nissan‘s plant in South Africa, ⁠which the maker of Tiggo SUVs has agreed to buy.

Chief Operating Officer Conrad Groenewald said the company is still assessing which model it would produce locally.

“There is a new product that we launched, a global product called codename EC15. My vote’s on that one, because I think that’s a better product, giving us more opportunity for localization and for potential exports into Europe,” Groenewald said.

Mercedes-Benz South Africa said in an emailed response that the company’s East London plant remains focused on producing the C-Class and that it does not comment on speculation ‌about future product portfolio and production planning process.

It noted, however, that “customer and market requirements are constantly changing. Mercedes-Benz strives to ensure that all its production sites remain globally competitive, are on an optimal operating point and ⁠adapted to new requirements whenever necessary.”

Last year, Mercedes-Benz South Africa CEO Andreas Brand told Reuters that the East London plant had previously produced vehicles for different brands, noting that “there’s technically no reason it couldn’t happen again.” GWM, with a market share of 5 per cent in South Africa and ranked number six in vehicle sales, expanded its Haval H6 line-up with the launch of a new plug-in hybrid variant on Wednesday, hoping to capture a growing share of customers who are opting for hybrid and electric vehicles.

It’s aiming to capitalize on the growing compact SUV segment, which is popular for families and has a larger share in the SUV market.

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